Samyang announces five full frame E-mount lenses

Samyang has announced that it will be making five full frame lenses in E mount, which will be the first third party optics compatible with the A7 and A7R. The lenses are all based on existing designs, namely the 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC, 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC, 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC, 85mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC, and the T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC tilt-and-shift. All feature manual focus and aperture operation, and will be available within 2 months. As these are essentially SLR lenses with an adapter tube permanently fitted, they won't offer any of the size advantages achievable by 'native' lenses.

Press release:

Samyang ready for E-mount Full Frame

Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC (here in Nikon mount)

Samyang announces the introduction of series of full frame lenses with Sony E-mount.

Krakow, October 16th 2013 - Samyang informs about the release of a new series of Samyang lenses for Sony E mount.

Within two months Samyang lenses, appreciated by both of professionals and amateur photographers, will be also available with Sony E-mount. High quality optics, that makes Korean products famous across the world, will please not only DSLR cameras owners, but also users of Sony NEX and Alpha family. Series will be available with the following focal lengths:

Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC

Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC

Samyang T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC

Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC

Samyang 85mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC

All lenses guarantee high quality image with simultaneously high aperture. Use of lenses made of special optical glass along with aspherical elements allow to effectively eliminate optical defects, together with care of the highest performance.

Samyang Sony E-mount series will allow all Sony NEX owners to fully experience high quality optics without additional adapters. Giving the fact, that lenses are prepared for 35mm format, they will perfectly work with not only APS-C cameras, such as Sony NEX 7, but also with the newest Sony Alpha 7R and Sony Alpha 7.

At the moment Samyang provides VDSLR series with Sony NEX mount, which has been designed especially for videomaking purposes:

Samyang 14mm T3.1 ED AS IF UMC

Samyang 24mm T1.5 ED AS IF UMC

Samyang 35mm T1.5 AS IF UMC

Samyang 85mm T1.5 AS IF UMC

All constructions mentioned above are not only the highest class of optics providing best quality image, but also casing and mechanics built in a view to filmmakers requirements. They can easily be used with popular DSLR cameras having the function of recording, and they are also available for Sony E cameras. This creates a chance to use them with Sony NEX-VG900, NEX-VG30, NEX FS100E or older types without additional adapters.

Just an FYI to all, and hopefully some will upvote this so others see it:

Hear me out on this - It makes no sense to buy these, and here's why:

These are the same lenses available for other mounts. The 14/2.8 is, for example, the exact same lens as my Sony A-mount 14/2.8, but with a much shorter registration distance simply because they've moved the mount back. The lens itself is dumb (100% manual). It makes no difference to the lens or camera if this lens is designed for the mount or if there's a cheap adapter stuck in between. There are no electrical contacts, it doesn't know the difference.

So, by all means DO buy these lenses - they're great lenses - just realize that if you buy an E mount version you will not be able to use the lenses on any other mount because of flange distance.

Instead, if you buy a Canon, Alpha, Nikon, whatever mount version of these lenses you can then use them with BOTH that mount and equally well on the E mount with a very inexpensive adapter.

Absolutely. Until we see some mention of it otherwise, kinda have to assume that they haven't.

Again, these are great lenses, and probably the best bang-for-buck you'll find anywhere. Just give thought to whether you might ever WANT a Nikon, or a Canon, or if you think you might ever sell it how much easier to move it will be if someone else can slap it on their Canikon rig.

Except for the fact that an adapter adds 2 inches to the length of the lens. All of these Samyang lenses are sharp, with good bokeh, have mechanical apertures and they are also extremely popular with videographers.

That's just it, though (except that it's almost exactly 1 inch, at least for A to E mounts): Samyang did not build a separate version of the lens for Canon, or Nikon, or Sony - they merely built a lens that would sit out far enough that every native lens mount would fit behind it and then extended each version of the lens backward to fit the lens mount. Customizing each lens to each mount to minimize the overall length would require new optical designs, more engineering, completely separate production lines, etc. They're all the same lens, and the E-mount version is very likely to just be extended even further back - about an inch longer. In other words every single one has a built-in adapter.

That, or they created a new optical design and put in place five different new production lines just to shave an inch off the E-mount lens. I think that's VERY unlikely.

And - last time - yes these are awesome lenses. Couple them with peaking and it's hard to justify buying AF!

As these are E-mounts, will they be backwards compatible with existing NEX cameras? I have this question regarding the new FE lenses anyway... instead of buying premium NEX lenses and then having to re-buy all over again if I ever upgrade to full frame, I was wondering if I could buy FE lenses now for my NEX-6 so that if I ever did upgrade, I could re-use them.

I never bought any Sony or other e-mount lenses. I use my Nikon lenses with adapters and I bought for peanuts a bunch of Minolta lenses on e-bay. I use those with an EA1 adapter in MF and it really rocks. 28/2.8 and 24/2.8 from Minolta are great lenses. Only e-mount lens I ever bought was a 16/2.8 when they sold them as removed from kit on e-bay, non boxed for 110$.